1982 Profile: Ron Guidry

1982 AMERICAN LEAGUE ALL-STAR
"Guidry was bothered by a bone bruise on his right foot the first half of the season but re-emerged as the best pitcher on the Yanks' staff- if not in the league- in the second half. He put together a string of 20 straight scoreless innings at one point. Guidry credited the development of a changeup to go with his fastball and slider as the prime reason for his regained dominance. He already owns the best slider in the AL.
Born in Lafayette, Louisiana, Guidry was the unanimous Cy Young winner in 1978 when he was 25-3 with a 1.74 ERA. He says his toughest opponent remains George Brett.
After intense negotiations between his agent John Schneider and George Steinbrenner, Guidry accepted a contract ranging from $4 million to $5 five million, depending on whether he pitches the next four or the next five seasons."

-Bill Madden, The Complete Handbook of Baseball, 1982 Edition

"Yankee fans cheer him as he makes his way back to the dugout from the bullpen even before the normal fan has started to direct his attention to the playing field. Then nimbly, number 49 pounces out of the dugout toward the mound and the show is about to begin. As he's warming up on the mound, a rumbling noise pierces the air and a wave of anticipation rises out of the overflowing stands. Unnerving the wary batter, two quick strikes register on the electronic scoreboard. Now the Stadium is jumping! Hands come together, cheers are so loud you can't help but join in and the pandemonium caused by the crowd lets the Gator know what he must do: get that third strike!
What most fans know is that Ron gets that third strike quite often. Last season, Ron chalked up 104 strikeouts in 127 innings to go along with his 11-5 record and 2.76 ERA. In '78 and '79, Ron recorded back-to-back 200-plus strikeout seasons with 248 and 201 respectively. And, over his five-plus seasons with the Yankees, Ron has recorded 922 strikeouts and can look toward reaching his 1,000th K this year.
In 1982, Ron hopes to continue his winning ways and aim for another 200-plus strikeout season. Most Yankee fans would be happy with his usual production: plenty of wins, plenty of strikeouts and time spent pitching in the World Series."

-The New York Yankees Official 1982 Yearbook

"1981 was another excellent year for Guidry. He had a slow start in the first half with a 5-3 record and a 3.74 ERA; he was hampered by a bone bruise on the ball of his right foot in May.
Guidry won his first six decisions in the second half and was named AL Pitcher of the Month of August (4-0 and an 0.37 ERA). He broke the little finger on his right hand on a come-backer on August 23, but played with a splint, not missing any starts.
During the season Guidry moved up from 12th to 8th on the all-time Yankee strikeout list, passing Raschi, Peterson, Turley and Chesbro, and maintained his best all-time Yankee won-lost percentage, .719. He won Game 1 of the World Series and was the loser in Game 5.
Ron enters 1982 with an 87-34 record and is 79-27, .745 since August 24, 1977. He has performed well in the second half of the year with a 48-13, .787 record after the All-Star break over the past five years.
1977 was his first full year with the Yankees; he was used in relief in six of his first seven appearances, then ended the year with 24 straight starts. In 1978, Guidry had a 'once in a lifetime' season, winning the Cy Young Award, finishing second in the MVP voting to Jim Rice and setting numerous records. He set the Yankee record for most consecutive wins to start a season, winning his first 13 and breaking the record of Atley Donald, the scout who signed Guidry. His nine shutouts tied Babe Ruth's AL record for most by a lefty, set in 1916. The Yankees won 30 of the 35 games he started, scoring only seven runs in the five losses, and opposing hitters batted only .193.
Ron struck out 10 or more in a game eight times, including a club record 18 against California on June 17, breaking Bob Shawkey's record of 15 set in 1919. His total of 248 strikeouts for the season was a club record and his 1.74 ERA was the lowest by a major league lefty since Sandy Koufax's 1.73 in 1966. 15 of his 25 wins followed a Yankee loss.
Guidry was a unanimous Cy Young winner (the only other unanimous winner was Denny McLain in 1968). He was also named Sporting News Player of the Year, Sporting News Man of the Year, Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year and Baseball Quarterly Performer of the Year. Guidry was named to the Associated Press, Sporting News and United Press International All-Star teams.
In 1979 Ron won his second straight ERA championship and was named to the UPI All-Star team. He played an inning in center field against Toronto on September 29 of that year. In 1980, Ron reached his 100th career decision (72-28), matching Sal Maglie, Vic Raschi, Spud Chandler and Ed Reulbach behind Whitey Ford's 74-26 for the second best record ever through the first 100 decisions.
Guidry was born and still resides in Lafayette, Louisiana. He was named Outstanding Track Man for two years at Northside High where they had no baseball team. He hurled a no-hitter and was named to the Gulf States All-Stars at Southwestern Louisiana where he majored in architecture.
Ron is Executive Vice-President of Munro Oil Tool, Inc. in Lafayette and enjoys hunting, chess and studying the Civil War in his spare time. His biggest thrill was his 18-strikeout game. He grew up as a Yankee and Whitey Ford fan."

-1982 New York Yankees Media Guide